Solid Silver 60's Show Congress Theatre Eastbourne and Assembly Hall Tunbridge Wells

Solid Silver 60's Show

Congress Theatre Eastbourne (12th May)

and Assembly Hall Tunbridge Wells (15th May)

Artists in appearance order

Vanity Fare
Wayne Fontana

Chris Farlowe

Dave Berry

Terry Sylvester

The Merseybeats

I haven't completely lost the plot in seeing the same production twice within a few days. We decided to book the Tunbridge Wells show as a birthday celebration for my wife and despite a gap of only 72 hours we couldn't have picked a better repeat. You can't beat decent live music.

Both the Solid Silver and Sixties Gold productions have never failed to be fabulous shows and this one is no exception.

A few of the well known acts in this show are regulars on the 'Silver' and 'Gold' tours so I won't dwell on Vanity Fare, Wayne Fontana and Dave Berry. Although you can refer back to my previous Solid Silver review for greater details if required. So here's just a brief summary of those great acts.

They may back most of the other performers but Vanity Fare are such a good band I'd gladly watch them perform a solo show given the opportunity.

Dave Berry may be the oldest performer on the current tour but he certainly looks the fittest and I have to say he got a rousing reception, especially at Tunbridge Wells where the audience got to their feet in appreciation.

Wayne Fontana may have a reputation as a bit of a naughty boy but I am convinced he gets more and more impressive every time we see him. Both audiences certainly seem to love a 'bad lad' and in both foyers he was certainly the act most people wanted an autograph from first.

I don't blame them either as he really comes across as a genuine friendly guy who always makes you laugh and smile (unless you are in law enforcement in which case your view may be slightly different).

Chris Farlowe was a new experience for me. However I did enjoy his hits especially Handbags and Gladrags and Out Of Time. I will admit I had never heard of Chris Farlowe and The Thunderbirds as his band was known in the 60's but at the time they were legendary with their R&B sound.

I think Chris went down well with both audiences too. Although I think his humour went down better at Eastbourne than Tunbridge Wells. His story about his nightmare requesting half a dozen chicken nuggets at McDonalds in Eastbourne got laughs aloud. However expressing that it was hotter on the Assembly Hall Stage than a "Japanese power station" resulted in what I can only describe as embarrassed groans rather than laughter. Adding a quip about 'Parkinson's disease' didn't help either. I did notice that as Wayne and Chris signed in the interval Wayne appeared to have far more demand from fans.

Former vocalist with The Hollies, Terry Sylvester ,was very popular in both venues especially as just about every Hollies track is a number you can sing along to. "Just one look" and the classic "He ain't heavy (he's my brother)" to name just a couple.

With vocals I could listen to any day Terry is a great addition to the Solid Silver tour and I hope he appears again in future productions.

That just leaves The Merseybeats with Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley still appearing together since they were first known as The Mavericks back in the early 60's. Accompanied by Bob Packham (bass guitar/vocals), Lou Rosenthal (drums) and Toni Baker (keys/vocals) 50 years on they remain one of Liverpool's greatest musical exports.

Back in the era of The Mavericks the hits of the Everly Brothers were the order of the day. It is therefore only appropriate that in this Solid Silver show those same hits are revisited together with the Merseybeats own hits such as "Sorrow" and Wishin' and Hopin'".

The Merseybeats are the ideal hand-clapping, arm swaying final act for this excellent touring 60's show and like all the other acts they joined in by staying behind to sign autographs for all who wanted them.

Best performance? Well you'd think it would naturally be a draw but it wasn't quite that simple because Tunbridge Wells got rewarded with a brilliant all-act-finale which Eastbourne missed out on as at least one act had to leave for home early. So Tunbridge Wells wins on this front as it was a fitting ending to a fantastic show.

Best venue? That one I'll give to Eastbourne because the larger foyer makes life far simpler when you have a number of acts made up of multiple members signing at the same time.

Best audience? For some strange reason the Tunbridge Wells audience were far more vocal and enthusiastic and more keen to get to their feet earlier. Although I don't really know why this should be as age wise both audiences were similar.

However whether you get an all act finale or not in the show you see it doesn't matter. This is still, as is always the case, a tremendous night out revisiting all those original 60's artists you love and their hits of the time.

The Solid Silver 60's Show Review 2010 Congress Theatre Eastbourne

25th Anniversary Special

The Solid Silver 60's Show

Congress Theatre Eastbourne

Friday 12th March 2010

Dave Berry

Mike Pender

Brian Poole

Peter Sarstedt

Vanity Fare

The Swinging Blue Jeans

The Troggs

Well for any 60's fan there's a bit to suit everybodys' tastes in this line up.We have the rather gentle, demure hits from Peter Sarstedt (Where Do You Go To My Lovely?). There's the 60's "hard rock" from The Troggs (Wild Thing). Everybody else falls in the sort of 'middle of the road' traditional 60's music.

Before I go further I must mention Vanity Fare who superbly provided the backing for most of the show. They have a wonderful sound. The band was formed in 1968 and Eddie Wheeler, Mark Ellen and Bernie Hagley have now been together over 30 years. 'Baby' of the group Steve Oakman (son of Pete Oakman of Swinging Blue Jeans) is their incredible keyboard player. He stands out from any keyboard (and accordian) player we have ever seen not just because of his incredible talent but the guy has so much energy he reminded me of the "Duracell Bunny" he just never stays still. If you could bottle the energy he has we wouldn't need power stations! So thanks to Vanity Fare for performing their own hits and for keeping us entertained for the rest of the show with excellent percussion and vocals.

Brian Poole (Twist and Shout, Candy Man etc) still performs with The Tremeloes from time to time and he delivered a great performance this evening. Great to see Brian still gets on so well with the band he was formerly with.

Sadly original Searcher, Mike Pender, doesn't have have the same good relationship with his former band members (at least the living ones) although he did play tribute to The Searchers who are sadly no longer with us.

I'm not going to delve into the politics behind the relationship between "The Searchers" and "Mike Pender's Searchers" I had enough of all that with Bucks Fizz / The Original Bucks Fizz. What's important here is was the performance any good?

Let's be honest I've seen the "other" Searchers so many times now I am more familar with their show but you cannot fault Mike Pender for being a great showman and he does have the distictive vocals which are clearly identified with the original hits. He was also a very friendly guy to meet after the show.

The question was asked by Mike Pender in the second half "Do you think there will still be a Solid Silver Tour in 10 years time?".

It's a good question really especially as after 53 years Ray Ennis founder member of The Swinging Blue Jeans will be hanging his jeans up for good come May 30th this year when he retires after a final gig in his home city of Liverpool. From what I've read it doesn't appear the Swinging Blue Jeans will be continuing in any form after his retirement but at least the music lives on. The hits like Good Golly Miss Molly and Hippy Hippy Shake will be around forever. What will also be missed is Ray's Liverpudlian humor which makes the act all that more entertaining. I am sure anybody reading this wishes Ray a long and happy retirement.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dave Berry (The Crying Game, This Strange Effect etc). Vocally Dave I think has a rather unique sound for the 60's but it's a very pleasurable sound. You can't fail to mention Mr Berry's equally unique, slow on stage movements. It's beyond the realms of description really - the closest I can get is that it's like he can perform an 'all body moonwalk'. In fact you have to wonder if, the late, Michael Jackson picked up a trick or two from Dave Berry as he does kick his act off with a white glove and his distinctive 'side shuffle' is close to a moonwalk. Dave also went out of his way to meet fans after the show signing autographs and posing for photos which was well received by those who stayed behind.

Surprise of the evening for me was that I enjoyed The Troggs. Having only really been familiar with their most well known hit "Wild Thing" I did enjoy the rest of their material too and I must mention that I found Reg Presley's dialogue entertaining too 'Damp, Damp Damp' comes to mind here. Dont Ask! Just go and see this terrific tour before it ends.

You will not only get a great show but don't forget it's one of the very last opprtunities to see Ray Ennis and The Swinging Blue Jeans live.

If you go I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Post a comment if you do see it.